Conference napalm::commusic_v1

    Buy a Synclavier....
    
    Edd

    From what I gather, a synthesizer with a disk drive will cost
    you twice as much as one without. 
    
    This should force up the value of all those minimoogs that must
    be floating about.
    
    Richard.

    When will this happen?  Real soon?
    
    Better buy up all the Jap goods soon . . .

    
    Bet there will be more detail on the news tonite.
    
    2 weeks for them to 'fix' things, else....slam.
    
    Not clear if 100% tariff is on product cost or chips inside....
    
    I fear the former, from what I heard, and the other would be
    a 'big deal...'
    
    Retailers will be able to PETITION the govt. to get certain
    products off the tariff list. Swell. How long will that take.
    
    ron
    

    re:-.1
    I had the impression that the tariff was on "certain chips that
    are inside of certain products", rather than on the whole product.
    Anybody know for sure?
    

    That wouldnt be even a slap on the wrist.
    Cutting the market by doubling the price WOULD.
    
    Who loses?
    
    us.
    
    Thanks Washington.
    
    Mr. Moderator: Can I use the word "assholes" in this conference, or
    will it get removed?
    
    ron
    

    You can bet that the govmint will do what it considers to be in
    its own best interests.  It'll raise prices on whatever will fill
    the coffers faster.

	Higher cost musical toys may be the least of the repercusions of this. 
	
	Closer to home, be concerned about what higher cost Japanese chips could
to the price of VAXes.  

	Applying for a mortgage today.  Interest rates rose across the board
1/8%-1/4% yesterday because of the news about tariffs.  That's a very real
$40-$50/month out of my pocket for 30 years...

    uh huh. Now your catching on....
    
    Look the 'fellas' is DC are fiddling with the $ and driving
    its value down. Intentionally.
    The goal is to try to make US goods more AFFORDABLE. They get
    bought, the deficit is reduced. clever.
    Ah, but 2 flaws: Just because a product is 'cheaper' does not
    guarantee that it will sell (quality,image,etc...)
    AND since the dollar is worth less, one requires a higher interest
    rate on the LOANING of dollars to make the same 'actual' return.
    
    If this works, fine. If not we have a situation that could
    develop into a fine recession. 

    I dont like these games.
    
    rr
    

According to the WSJ, the appropriate official said that the only 
effect of this will be to drive up the proices of foreign made 
electronic goods, which shouldn't affect anyone because "in most cases 
there are domestic substitutes available".

So, where do I get my GE MIDI keyboard (or is it DELCO?) :-)

    re: .8
    One thing they DID say for sure was that "raw chips" are not subject
    to a tariff -- only assembled Japanese products that contain the
    chips. The price of U.S. goods with Japanese chips will not be
    affected.
    
    The question in my mind is still: is the tariff based on the price
    of the finished product, or only on the value of the Japanese chips
    that it contains? I watched the news again last night, and they
    didn't say anything about "doubling the price" of consumer goods.
    I believe that doubling the cost would mean zero sales, and I can't
    imagine that that's the intent. HOWEVER, if it meant double the
    value of the internal chips, then either the chip makers pay the
    difference, or the whole Japanese industry suffers REDUCED sales.
    I believe that this IS the intent, since it's the chip makers who
    are allegedly at fault.
    
    (Actually, I seriously question that more than one or two Japanese
    companies has done anything wrong at all. The first news item I
    saw on the news pointed to a distributor selling OKI parts, not
    to the industry as a whole.)
    

    Jeff, either you jest (I hope) or you dont get it at all....
    (hey, binary choices!)
    
    re. -1: Gee, none of us can really imagine a dx21 for $600-ish
    or a Fb01 for $700 or??????????????????????????????
    
    But OTHERWISE it is no big deal. 100% markup on $5 worth of chips
    is not even a slap on the wrist. 
    
    Thats why I think its "posturing": 100% markup on CERTAIN items.
    So far whats been named (to my EAROM recolection) is calculators,
    floppy disks (assumedly drives: thats like $80 going to $160), 
    communications satellites (huh? do they make all those too?)...
    
    but who knows?
    
    I hope I'm just pushing smoke around....
    
    ron
    

	By the time I filled out the loan application...interest rates
had jumped another 1/8%.  Wonder what today will bring.

	With all this conjecture about how the tariff is going to jack up
	the prices of the Japanese imports, I think I'll throw in my $.02.

	I suspect that the importer will pay the 100% tariff based on his
	cost from the manufacturer.  On an item that retails here now for
	$1000 I suspect the wholesaler's cost runs about $333 (the idea is
	that the wholesaler marks up 100% and the retailer 33% so in the end the
	consumer pays 300% over the wholesaler's cost).  The tariff then
	would jack the wholesalers price by $333  which would be passed on to
	the retailer and ultimately to you and I.  The result here is that we
	would then pay $1333 for the same item that we buy now for $1000.

	This conjecture is based on the way the guitar manufacture,wholesale,
	retail chain worked domestically a few years ago.  I may be all wet,
	but that's my 2.9 yen (based of course on 145 yen = $1.00).

							Al

    re:.13
    That's because the prime rate went up yesterday. A separate issue.
    
    re:"Wockin' Juan"
    I don't think that a 100% tariff on $5 worth of parts would be a
    "slap on the wrist" to the chip makers, if they have to absorb a
    100% tariff ON THEIR ENTIRE PRODUCT LINE.
    In my suggested scenario, it would be a $5 hit on $5 worth of parts,
    NOT a $5 hit on a $1000 product. Wakarimasu ka? (Japanese - "do
    you understand?").
    
    re:-whatever
    The wholesaler-retailer price increase scenario sounds believable,
    also, since the tariff would presumably be paid (initially) by the
    wholesaler, as you suggest.
    

    The tariffs are to be levied on "finished" products, not the chips.
    A tariff on the chips would have hurt U.S. industries harder than
    the Japanese ( lots of Japanese chips in your VAX, G.I. ).
    
    The implementation ( paid on wholesale price by importer, on retail
    price somewhere further down the distribution pipeline, etc ) 
    apparently is "discretionary" since it appears not to be spelled
    out in the legislation.  I think I'll go see if the bill which
    mandated this is in the Congressional Record yet.  Might not be
    able to figure it out even then since it will be written in
    public-servant-ese.
    
    				Regards
    				Doug Dickerson
    

    
    	Well, it doesn't seem that the retailers have caught on to this
    yet.  As a long time price_shopper/procrastinater I have been keeping
    a little up to date file on what my dream equipment would cost.
    None of the over_the_phone_price_quoters that I spoke to this week
    have started to use the "Buy_now_and_beat_the_tarrif" line, in fact
    they seem to have even grown tired of the yen/$ exchange rate story.

    	Reg
    
    	(But I bought a KX 88 at Daddy's in Nashua yesterday; just in
    case......)
    

    got the poop on what goods....
    
    Cant remember the list, but folks, its like everything that 
    as-few-as-possible-US-consumers-want.
    
    No high tech to speak of. 
    
    I guess its the thought (threat) that counts even if it has
    no teeth....
    
    keep hopin....
    
    Dont let any dealers use the now or never line....
    
    ron
    

    re .18	Well, everything that as-few-as-possible-US-consumers-want
    sounds like it *WON'T* be VCRs, TVs, Boom boxes, Home Audio, cameras,
    home(personal ?) computers....    What's left ?    Anything that
    *ISN'T* the subject of this notes conference ? 
    
    	The pessimist
    

Maybe now's a good time to buy Kurzweil stock, eh?


				Mark

    ... and E-Mu Systems, and Sequential, and (garf) J.L. Cooper

    Wanna buy some Linn stock?????
    
    Todd.
    

    
    	Well, today we get to know.  Watch tonight's news and be ready
    to zip down to your local toy store if Ya wanna beat the tarrif.
    I just don't see why he would leave electronic musical equipment
    out.

    
    	So, what did you learn?
    
    	Is my Tx816 now worth $10k?   Hmmm, that brings up an interesting
    question - has the replacement value of our Japanese equipment doubled?
    How does this affect out insurance coverage?
    
    							- Karl

    All they talked about was 18-12 inch TVs, portable computers, and
    power tools. Whoops - make that 18-21 inch TVs.
    They sounded like these are the only products affected -- so maybe
    we all lucked out.
    Also, items by Sony and Sanyo are not included since they are assembled
    in the U.S.